Category: Addiction

How to Help Someone in Recovery

Get Help Today 1-855-815-9727 How do you get help for someone struggling with addiction? It can be extremely difficult to admit that addiction has come to rule your life or the life of someone you care about. Even if you are not the one directly suffering from addiction, the problem itself will still affect you. […]

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Dangers of Self-Medicating with Drugs and Alcohol

Research on substance use disorders and mental health disorders depicts strong evidence for consistent links between the two. Approximately half of Americans who have substance use disorders also have mental health disorders and vice-versa. While it cannot be said that one causes the other, the two are complexly intertwined. When these disorders coincide, it is […]

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How to Support a Loved One in Recovery During the Holidays

The holidays are a time of joy, but among all the celebrations sits the reality of life. Your loved one in recovery is dealing with their new sober life, and this time of year might bring about reminders or triggers that could put them at risk for relapse. You may be unsure how to support […]

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11 Tips in Facing This Sober Holiday Season

The holidays are fast approaching, and while they can be exciting and fun, they can also cause chaos and panic. This is especially true for those who are newly sober or those in recovery. After all, you will find that your social calendar is filling up with dinner, parties, and so much more. When you [...]
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LGBTQ Trauma and Addiction

Compared to the general population, the rates of mental health disorders and substance use disorders are significantly higher among the LGBTQ community. Members of the LGBTQ community are at increased risk of experiencing trauma centered around shame, discrimination, abuse, acts of violence, and hate crimes. At Westwind Recovery®, all of our treatment programs and sober […]

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Wilderness Therapy for Addiction

Wilderness therapy, also called adventure therapy, combines nature and survival experiences with rehabilitation therapy to treat mental health disorders and substance use disorders. The activities in wilderness therapy are designed to foster the recovery process by creating positive learning experiences in nature. Experiential therapies are those that use expressive tools and activities to help clients […]

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Long-Term Effects of Painkillers on the Body

The way pain is experienced is through how the body communicates with the brain. When pain is present, the central nervous system sends signals to opioid receptors in the brain, alerting the brain to discomfort. When an individual takes painkillers, two things happen: the central nervous system is depressed, making it harder for pain signals [...]
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Symptoms of Prescription Drug Addiction

Most people acquire prescription drugs legally from their doctor for legitimate reasons, take them as prescribed, and stop taking them when the prescription is out. Too frequently, however, people come to enjoy the psychoactive effects of certain drugs and begin to misuse them. The misuse of prescription drugs involves taking them in any way other [...]
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Healthy Ways to Address a Family History of Addiction

Drug and alcohol addiction is one of the most significant problems facing the healthcare system. Much of the efforts to reduce addiction rates focus on prevention because it is better to stop addiction than to treat it after it has occurred. Prevention involves having an understanding of the risk factors for addiction. Research indicates that […]

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How Addictive Behaviors Promote Dependency

Addictive behaviors are defined as compulsions that lead you to repeat actions over and over, regardless of how negatively they impact your life. There are many kinds of addictive behaviors caused by a variety of factors. You may be addicted to drugs or alcohol, addicted to food, or addicted to sex, gaming, or the internet. […]

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